Tied To You
by Kari Kurofai
Summary: Sacrifice wasn't something he'd thought of before. But If Firestar could have done it all over again, he would have in a heartbeat. Darkest Hour AU, slight TigerFire


**Tied To You**

*This is a little idea I've been playing with for awhile, now you may have it*

Fate is a string. A string binding one to the many around him. The shorter the thread, the stronger the bond, the closer the hearts. There is no difference between the intertwining threads of love and hate. They're the same. Same color, same length. The invisible strings wrapped around us for eternity.

Invisible until the moment before we die.

Tigerstar could see them, like spider webs connected to the cats around him. It was the moment when he lost his temper, yelling at Scourge to attack. The tiny threads suddenly appeared before his eyes. His breath caught in his throat as he cast them a quick glance. His fate threads encircling his kits, Goldenflower, Cinderpelt, Blackstar, Scourge, countless other cats. And Firestar. The Thunderclan leader, standing just behind him, was bound in the web-like strings.

His attention returned to Scourge, and he realized too late what was happening. Revenge filled eyes and reinforced claws, flying at him. He stumbled backwards in horror, a furious yowl rumbling in his throat. So this was how he was to die. How ironic, killed by a kittypet.

A weight crashed into him from the side, sending him skidding just out of reach of the black cat's claws. Blood flecked his pelt, splashing across the ground. But it was not his blood. Panting, the Shadowclan leader raised glazed amber eyes. Firestar stood on shaking legs in front of the small Bloodclan leader. Crimson blood spilled from his chest, and Tigerstar could only watch in stunned horror as he fell.

No cat moved, all frozen in shock and fear. And Tigerstar hardly noticed as his own paws carried him to the ginger warrior's side. The Thunderclan leader's breathing was pained and ragged, but his emerald eyes rose up to meet amber without hesitation.

"Why?" It was the only word the broad shouldered tabby could think of.

Firestar smiled slowly, "I dreamed it. I dreamed of your death," he mewed quietly. "And I . . . I could see the strings. I saw them, and I knew what I had to do . . ." His voice faded away as he went into the deathlike sleep of loosing a life.

But it did no good. Tigerstar felt his heart shatter as the blood kept flowing. Starclan could not heal the wound. He kept his gaze on those emerald eyes, feeling helpless as Firestar lost life after life.

A firry paw touched his, and blood smeared across his fur. "I'm scared," Firestar whispered, words only for his ears. He understood perfectly what was happening to him, all nine lives slipping away one by one. "I'm scared, Tigerclaw . . ."

His enemy, his bane, his hated rival. His kittypet. This was supposed to be his destiny, his death. Not Firestar's. Never Firestar's. His voice wavered as he ran his muzzle over the Thunderclan leader's, "I'm right here."

"My clan . . . Who will look after them?"

"I'm sure Whitestorm-"

"Please take are of them," Firestar whispered.

"They hate me," Tigerstar reminded him gently.

"Graystripe and Whitestorm . . . They'll listen. Please . . . Don't let the clans die." He blinked fiercely, reaching out with a paw to touch Tigerstar again. "Tigerclaw . . . It's so dark," he whimpered. "Was I brave? Was I really strong enough? Wise enough? Even though I wasn't clan born."

"Yes," Tigerstar murmured, "all of that and more. You turned out to be a better warrior than I ever could have been, Kittypet."

Firestar smiled, his eyes fading into a soulless emerald glass.

Tigerstar couldn't understand the anguish that overwhelmed him. This was what he'd always wanted, right? No. he'd wanted to repair the damage his father had left. How had his judgment become so clouded? How had his hope for his clan become it's demise?

The clans were silent around him as he stood over the Thunderclan leader's body. Scourge was smirking at him, his muzzle and paws stained with blood. Tigerclan had begun to back away, retreating in terror. The Windclan cats whispered among themselves, though a stern gaze from Tallstar held their ranks.

Whitestorm and Graystripe stood at the head of Thunderclan. The snowy warrior standing tall, trying to maintain his self control for the good of his clan. And Firestar's first friend, eyes glazed with anguish, though he didn't flinch from the sight.

"What will you do now, clan cats? You have two sunsets from tonight to decide. Leave this forest, or be slaughtered at our claws," Scourge growled, a cold smile on his face.

As the Bloodclan cats faded away into the trees, Graystripe turned his eyes towards Tigerstar. "What do we do now?"

Tigerstar did not look up from Firestar's body, "Why are you asking me? Whitestorm is your leader now."

"But Firestar entrusted Thunderclan to you, Tigerstar," Whitestorm murmured quietly. "Until your death, Thunderclan is yours now."

Amber eyes wavered in grief as Tigerstar stared at him, "My death should have been today."

"Firestar changed that," Whitestorm mewed, "and in accordance with the code, he put Thunderclan in your care, from leader to leader. So . . . Will we fight?" Fight? Tigerstar bent his head over the orange furred warrior again, licking his eyes closed. _Is that what you would have done?_ "Yes," he whispered, "all four clans will fight."

"I can speak for Windclan," Tallstar broke in, "but yes. We'll fight. We were driven out of our home once, but never again." He cast Tigerstar and icy glare at this.

"Why should we listen to that traitor," Dustpelt hissed suddenly. "Firestar just scarified himself for him," Whitestorm snapped, "he trusted him!"

"After everything!?" Dustpelt growled, "Why would he hold any trust towards a _murderer_!"

"There's a very fine line between hate and love," Graystripe whispered, "the two are equally strong, and an never be broken. If Firestar trusted him, then so will I." He raised wary gold eyes to meet amber, "That should be good enough for any cat."

^-^ ^-^ ^-^

Nights had never seemed so long before. Tigerstar lead a small patrol over to the Tigerclan camp, telling his clan how they would have to stand and fight. Leopardstar put up quite a retaliation at first, but complied when he informed her she would regain complete control over Riverclan after the battle.

Tigerstar had wanted an end to all of this death and fighting. That's why he'd tried to create Tigerclan in the first place. He'd only brought on complete destruction for every cat.

When he returned to camp, feeling more exhausted and weary than ever before, he noticed Sandstorm sitting near the empty den beneath he Highrock. She saw the broad-shouldered warrior approaching, and raised here head in suspicious greeting.

"I don't want you fighting when the time comes," Tigerstar mewed quietly, getting straight to the point.

She narrowed her eyes, "why? Because I still don't trust you? Because of the fact that Firestar _died_ for you?"

"Because you're carrying his kits," he growled. "now go get some rest before I shoo you off to Cinderpelt's den to _make_ you get some."

He padded past her into the cave beneath the rock. The rest of the clan was surrounding Firestar's body in the center of the clearing. But he did not join them. Instead, he curled up in the moss nest inside the den, eyes glazed as he picked up the sent of the at who had been here only hours before.

_Why?_ He closed his eyes, letting darkness draw him in. _Why?_

"_Because he wished it, with all his heart," a smooth voice replied. He opened his eyes, staring with vague surprise at the tortoiseshell she-cat beside him. "He asked me what was to come, and I showed him one of many futures. He saw you die, and chose to carve a different path for the both of you."_

"_One where I die, and the other where I live," He mewed in anguish, "that mousebrained Kittypet . . ."_

"_No," Spottedleaf corrected, "your fate is unchanging. It was his own that was altered."_

_He raised his head, "So I die either way? Why would he . . ."_

"_He saw the strings of fate," Spottedleaf answered simply._

"_Is he here?" He whispered, "Is he with all of you?"_

"_No," She mewed, "he's with Thunderclan still. He did not follow when we asked him too. He's waiting."_

^-^ ^-^ ^-^

"I name Graystripe leader of Thunderclan," Tigerstar yowled over the rage and roar of the battle around them. Whitestorm lay at their paws, broken and lifeless.

Graystripe stared at him, "Wh- I can't, I-"

"They'll be in your care after tonight," Tigerstar mewed, flicking his tail over the younger warrior's ears. He turned, bounding up the great rock to where Scourge stood, waiting for him. Screeching, he flung himself at the tiny at, freeing Cloudtail from his claws.

"Are you mad?" Scourge smirked, "are you furious because I killed your kittypet? I thought you wanted him dead." He dodged a swipe aimed at his head, "Though my target has been you all along."

Tigerstar growled in rage, leaping at him with outstretched claws. Teeth caught his throat, and he yowled as blood splattered across the ground around them. The small at flung him aside, and stood over him with an insane, triumphant grin.

_No, not yet,_ he thought. _He has to be killed, or it will all have been for nothing. I can't have let Firestar die for nothing! _He raised himself to his paws, crouching in front of the Bloodclan leader in submission.

Scourge hissed in glee, leaping at him, claws gouging at his spine. Tigerstar thrust himself upward, twisting as he slammed into the small cat. Teeth met jugular vein, and he tore, spraying the ground with blood.

He was dead. Scourge was dead, and that was all it took to win. Tigerstar stumbled, falling sideways into the blood-soaked ground. Crimson still flowed freely from the wound in his throat, and he gasped for air. He could hear the cheering of the clan cats, the terrified wails of the Bloodclan cats. But it seemed too distant to be real.

"_You did good,"_ A voice murmured in his ear, _"You didn't let me down."_

"You would have done better," Tigerstar laughed weakly, already feeling another life leave him. "Is this path . . . Is it really a better choice?"

"_I don't know, I can only see so far," _Firestar whispered. _"But for you . . . And for me, yes. Yes it is."_

"How can that be, if we are meant to die?"

"_No other path ended with us walking the stars together,"_ The firry warrior mewed softly. _"So if you're ready, they've saved a place for us up there. Unless . . . You'd prefer not to come with a Kittypet."_

Tigerstar smiled, the stars around him coming into focus out of the darkness. "No, it doesn't matter, Kittypet." The strings were all around him again as he stood over his own body. The shortest one was bound to his chest, snaking over to the chest of the young cat who stood before him.

"Death . . . Isn't so hard," Firestar whispered, "but living on is. I chose the path where I didn't have to. It was a cowards choice." He smiled sadly, blinking down at the spider-web-like thread on his chest.

"You were very brave," Tigerstar whispered, flicking his tail over the younger cat's nose.

Firestar laughed, "Yes, I suppose I was. Shall we go now?" He glanced at the stars above them, "I'm sure they're a bit impatient by now."

"Lead the way Kittypet."

RANDOM AUTHOR RAMBLE

This was based off the fact that I always say that Firestar was guilty he couldn't do anything to save Tig, as well as my other story, ETMHWRY. Those of you who have read it know what I'm talking about. This would have been an alternate ending to that, one I contemplated for a long time. So I wrote it original warriors style.

Anywho . . . U get this epically long oneshot. :D


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